A curious tubelike device rises from the roof of the Peninsula Center Library, pointed at the sky like a wayward telescope. This is "Stellar Axis," a piece of abstract art intended as the crown jewel of the public library's $19-million renovation project in Rolling Hills Estates. But even before the construction dust has settled, the artwork--an assemblage of marble discs, gold-leaf-lined domes and the rooftop tube--is stirring discord.

A curious tubelike device rises from the roof of the Peninsula Center Library, pointed at the sky like a wayward telescope. This is "Stellar Axis," a piece of abstract art intended as the crown jewel of the public library's $19-million renovation project in Rolling Hills Estates. But even before the construction dust has settled, the artwork--an assemblage of marble discs, gold-leaf-lined domes and the rooftop tube--is stirring discord.